Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 75 The Ancient Saint

The two-legged toad struck Harlan with a powerful impact—though it lacked the appearance of an intelligent being, it exuded an indescribable profundity and mystery.

He was heavily pregnant, wearing a long black robe embroidered with mysterious gold patterns, and with some mysterious and precious jewels hanging around his neck.

Its shape is indeed that of a standing toad, but its body is covered with fine scales.

"Come back, they mean no harm."

The giant toad stretched out its webbed hand, beckoning the crystal falcon to descend from the sky and land steadily on its shoulder.

The Crystal Falcon obeyed its command, perched on its shoulder, and looked at Doom with its crystal eyes, shaking its head.

Harlan was deeply shocked. The Crystal Falcon was the giant toad's pet. He gripped his weapon tightly and cautiously asked, "Who are you?"

“I can save him.” The toad did not answer; its lazy, half-closed eyelids swept over Harlan, and the human language emanating from its wide mouth was peaceful and serene.

With a casual gesture, the jade sphere returned to its hand, as if it had returned to its true owner.

"follow me."

As it turned forward, the crystal, as if alive, automatically avoided it and exited through a dark blue passage.

Harlan dragged Doom along and carefully followed it into the cave, watching every reflection in the cave intently.

"Don't be too careful, I have no intention of harming you, and it's safe here."

The peaceful croaking of toads came from ahead, soothing Harlan's cautious demeanor.

The voice was truly magical, causing Harlan to lower his eternal vigilance as a night guard and gradually follow it into the depths of the cave.

At the end of the cave was a spacious room with a bed and various cabinets, filled with all sorts of strange creations.

Most strikingly, beneath the crystal wall, lies a large clay crucible, bubbling and steaming, seemingly simmering something.

The various items have different artistic styles; they are masterpieces of art, seemingly from different civilizations.

The crystal falcon flew to its perch and preened its crystal feathers.

"who are you?"

Harlan asked again, he had too many questions about the toad in front of him, it had an incomprehensible mystery about it.

There was a kind of amiable quality that made him unconsciously lower his guard.

"The last ancient saint in the universe." The toad took a pipe from the wall of the room, took a deep drag, and said in a somewhat desolate voice, "Prima, the Forger of Life."

"Ancient Saints?" Harlan shook his head in confusion. He had never heard of them, nor had he seen any historical records mentioning this race.

At the same time, Harlan's heart was trembling violently. When he heard the words "ancient saint," a strange sense of reverence welled up in his heart.

"Can you save him?" Harlan asked, pointing to the gelatinous coffin on the ground, inside which lay the giant, using a respectful term.

Regardless of race, since Flano requested to come here, his ultimate goal is to save Doom.

Prima didn't explain much. The universe is no longer what it was 60 million years ago, or even the time when the Eldar were in power. Few people know about the Ancient Ones anymore.

"of course."

The ancient saint exhaled a puff of smoke toward Doom on the ground, and in an instant the gelatinous coffin melted, revealing a body inside flowing with black blood.

"The gods of the subspace are very fond of your master and want to take him as a servant to force him to submit."

As Prima spoke, she stepped on the colorful feather carpet and took many things from the wall that Harlan had never seen before, throwing them into the cauldron.

Although he had never seen anything in the cave before.

"I...will never...give in!"

Doom remained clear-headed. Hearing the talk of gods, he used his will to drive his body: "I... will kill them!"

That deep-seated hatred surged from his weakened body, fueled by a will to die.

"Very good! Very energetic!"

Prima exclaimed in admiration, opening her mouth wide and spitting a large mouthful of sticky saliva into the crucible, while stirring it continuously with a spoon: "I have never seen your spirit before, completely unaffected by the warp."

"Even those four filthy entities cannot corrupt your soul; they can only target your body."

"They crave your submission, your resistance, your choice, and they want to devour you completely."

Harlan was completely confused and dared not speak, for fear of interrupting what Prima was cooking.

He could see that the seemingly ordinary actions contained an indescribable truth.

It is a true cosmic mystery, not a psionic charade.

Prima simmered the mixture, occasionally stopping to dance around the cauldron, chanting ancient and mysterious syllables.

Harlan was somewhat puzzled as to why he always felt a strange sense of respect for a toad, and even wanted to dance with it.

After a while, the crucible stopped boiling, and the various substances inside disappeared, condensing into a shimmering golden liquid. Just one sniff, and Harlan felt every pore on his body open up, experiencing unparalleled comfort from the inside out.

Prima then brought out another bowl, containing the skull of some creature, its crystal-clear surface radiating an aura of nobility.

"It tastes good." The toad dipped his finger in the liquid and took a small sip. He smiled strangely, his two eyes on the top of his head narrowed, and his big mouth stretched to the back of his head: "Sixty million years have passed, and my skills have not deteriorated at all."

As soon as Prima spoke, both Doom, who was conscious on the ground, and Harlan, who dared not speak, were stunned.

This toad in front of me, which claims to be an "ancient sage," seems to have lived for over 60 million years?
They did not doubt its authenticity; indeed, the decorations in the room showed that Prima had lived for a very long time.

"Original Soup".

The ancient saint, holding the glittering liquid, knelt down beside Doom, his eyes fixed on the giant on the ground: "A true cosmic miracle, imitating the primordial essence that gave birth to the first life, is a magnificent concept."

"It would be a perfect match to use it to save you."

After saying that, it used its webbed, suction-like hands to pry open Doom's mouth and put the original soup into his mouth.

As the soup entered his throat, Doom instantly felt a surge of vitality erupt from his stomach and intestines, rushing to every part of his body.

Those constantly evolving viruses are assimilated by the medicinal properties, returning to their original vitality, and thus becoming an aid to the healing power of the original soup.

Doom's breathing gradually returned to normal, his heartbeat regained its strength, and his body was rapidly recovering.

"A little bit more?"

There was still some medicine left in the bowl. Prima looked at Harlan and said, "Drink it; it will do you good."

Harlan immediately stepped forward, picked up the bowl of medicine, and swallowed it in one gulp.

He had been drooling for a long time, his body instinctively craving to swallow those golden, shimmering liquids.

After swallowing the medicine, he fainted and collapsed to the ground. Under the cleansing effect of the primordial soup, his body began to undergo an extraordinary transformation.

"Thanks you!"

Doom rose again, knelt on one knee before Prima, placed one hand on his chest, and offered the highest warrior's salute to this stranger who had generously helped him.

"It's not over yet!"

Prima grinned, sticking out her long, slippery tongue, which she used to lick Doom's chest.

As it retracted its tongue, it drew blue cursed power and crimson rage from his body.

Prima shuddered as she rolled up her long tongue to swallow, a few sparks flying from her lips. She squinted her eyes in enjoyment: "The taste of change, the fiery flavor, really good."

It was quite interested, its eyes constantly scanning Doom up and down, especially the mysterious runes on his chest.

"Sit down, son of the Norwick boy. You must have many questions."

Prima climbed onto the low bed, covered herself with a gorgeous blanket, picked up her pipe, puffed on smoke, and closed her eyes in blissful enjoyment.

"You know my father? And thank you for saving me, but why did you save me?"

Doom was surprised that this ancient saint knew his father. While thanking him for saving his life, he raised some questions.

The ancient sage did not seem to act on a whim, but rather as if he had been waiting for a long time.

“I know every ‘King of Norwick.’ They all come to see me before they ascend the throne.” Prima exhaled a cloud of mist and slowly extended two fingers: “There are two reasons why I saved you.”

"Norwick came to see me half a year ago and made a promise that if you were ambushed, he would definitely save you." It pointed to the jade sphere: "He also took that little gadget, which can block the vision of the gods."

Prima stared intently at Doom, a peculiar light in her eyes: "I saved you of my own free will, because you have the right to challenge the gods!"

"that power?"

Doom frowned slightly, as he keenly grasped the key word: the ancient saint was referring to "power" rather than "strength."

"Yes, power!"

Prima tapped his pipe against the bedside, knocking away excess ash: "The inherent rights of living beings."

“And you,” the ancient saint said, pointing the pipe at Doom, his eyes half-closed, his serene voice filled with certainty, “you have the right to challenge the gods!”

How can I defeat them?

Thinking of what the gods had done, Doom clenched his fists involuntarily, and boundless anger rose within him; he yearned for revenge!

Prima exhaled a puff of smoke, which transformed into countless colors in the air: "The warp is the source of everything..."

Prima the Lifeforger narrowed the round eyes on either side of his head, recalling those deep memories, and told Doom about the nature of the warp, its past and present.

The existence of God and the nature of evil, and the nature they crave.

The history buried by the waves of the warp, the birth of the four evil gods, and the original appearance of the Sea of ​​Souls.

Prima recounts the glorious past of the ancient saints and how they gradually declined.

(My head is about to explode. I'll check later to see if it calms down. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing.)
(End of this chapter)